“Why is it taking so long?” Eden paces the floor, stroking her neat little bump anxiously. I decided that the club was the best place for me to be. I worry every bit as much as these girls do about something happening to Vike, despite me not being his old lady.
“Everything will be fine,” Peyton assures her, then smiles at the little boy who's sitting beside her. I haven’t had the chance to even ask who he is yet. I’ve been too busy trying to calm down Eden.
“Has our new friend got a name?” I ask. Clearly, the boy’s not been well cared for; his hair is long and thick with knots, and although his clothes look clean, they’re far too big for him.
“We haven’t got that far yet.” Peyton smiles up at me, and when I glance out the window and see Trinity, my drive to know the truth takes over.
“Excuse me.” I head toward the door so I can confront her. She’s carrying a mountain of shopping bags as she trots on her heels toward her motel room, and I feel sick as I prepare to ask her about what happened yesterday.
“Trinity,” I call after her, and when she turns around, I know just from the smirk she makes that I won’t like what she’s going to tell me.
“Hey, Alicia,” She places down her bags and folds her arms under her over-exposed, over-inflated tits.
“I want to know what happened between you and Vike yesterday.” I get straight to the point; me and her have nevergot on and we never fucking will. The less time I have to spend talking to her, the better.
“That's not your business; you’re not his old lady, are you?” Her head tilts sarcastically.
“No, I’m not, but I still want to know what happened. Vike lives with me,” I remind her, in case it slipped her mind.
“Well…” She pulls a cigarette from her purse and lights it, looking up as if trying to recall a memory. “First, I sucked his dick, then he fucked me on the dresser. We fucked some more when we took a shower, and then he shot his load right about here...” She points her finger at her tits. “Sorry, sweetie, I guess pregnant girls just don’t do it for him.” She laughs and blows a huge puff of smoke directly into my face. “Maybe if you're looking for a baby daddy, you should start hanging out somewhere else.”
I act on impulse, slapping her face out of pure fucking hurt and heading back inside.
“Oh, you're lucky you’ve got a brat on board!” she calls after me as I storm through the door and burst into tears.
“What's wrong? Have you heard from the guys?” Eden rushes to me frantically.
“No, but I have heard that Vike’s been screwing Trinity,” I tell them, noting how shocked they all look. I guess he’s done a good job of fooling everyone.
“I’m sorry, Alicia.” Freya smiles at me sympathetically, resting her arm around my shoulder to comfort me.
“I’m so stupid. How can I even feel mad? I’m not his old lady, he’s just my brother's best friend who lives with me.” I throw my hands in the air.
“He’s more than that.” Eden finds enough calm to comfort me, too, taking my hand in hers.
“To me, maybe, but not to him.” I remember the comfort of having him hold me, the elation I felt when he kissed me back,and it all feels so tainted, now I know he’d been with her just hours before. I’ve got everything so wrong.
Eden quickly releases me when we hear the sound of engines coming from outside. She flings open the door and rushes outside, and we all follow after her, watching her leap at Wrath when we make it to the parking lot.
“Careful, darlin’,” he says, looking down and reminding her of the condition she’s in, before gripping her tight and kissing her.
“Raze.” Peyton rushes to her man as he climbs off his bike, and Freya does the same to Ruckus. I suddenly feel so lonely.
“Relax, Dev’s fine.” Ruck looks at Millie over Freya's shoulder as she hugs him. “We let one of ’em live; your man's taken him to the shipyard for some questioning,” Ruck assures her, and she breathes her own sigh of relief when she hears he’s okay. I suddenly see Greaser heading straight for me, his hand clutching his opposite arm and blood pouring through his fingers.
“You're hurt.” I grab hold of him and check him over.
“It's just a graze. I’ll live to see tomorrow,” he tells me, and when I look over my shoulder and see Vike still sitting on his bike, staring at me like I’m doing something wrong, more anger and hurt slices through me.
“I’m glad you're okay,” I tell Greaser, stretching up on my toes to press a kiss on his lips instead of his cheek. I don’t expect Greaser to grip my arm, so I can’t get away. I don’t expect him to force his tongue into my mouth and make the friendly peck I gave him into something very different. But I don’t stop him, and let it last for way longer than I should. I want Vike to know how it feels. I want him to feel the same crushing feeling that I do. Not that it's gonna work; Vike clearly doesn’t share the same feelings as I do.
“I’ll have to get myself shot more often if that's the welcome home I get.” Greaser eventually pulls away, wearing a huge,satisfied smile on his face. I glance over his shoulder and see Vike staring right at us, and I instantly regret what I just did when he revs his engine and rides straight back out of the yard again.
Iride and ride, then I ride some more, trying to burn off some of my rage. I don't know who I'm more fuckin’ mad at, Alicia or Greaser. She clung to me last night. Begged me not to leave her. She kissed me in a way that made me forget all the loyalty I had for her brother, and then right in front of me, in front ofallmy club brothers, she welcomed him home like that. She kissed him, let him fuckin’ claim her!
I accepted her trading me in for him to be her birthing partner, but I can’t accept this. When I finally find the strength to get home, and I see her car isn’t there, I don’t know if I’m relieved or more angry. I assume that she’ll still be at the club with him, seeing to the little graze he took to the arm while we were fighting with that Mexican gang who tried to steal our gun supply. I should have let those motherfuckers kill him, instead of spotting him and ensuring the bullet didn’t hit his chest.
I throw my keys at the wall and yell out in temper, scrubbing my hand over my face and trying to figure if I should pack a fuckin’ bag or stick around to confront her. Is she that fuckin’ blind that she can’t see what he’s doin’? Greaser hasn’t changed, he’s still the nasty, conniving bastard that left here when Raze showed up and started dragging us outta the gutter. He didn’twanna live by morals or do what's right. He wanted to keep fuckin’ up shit and gain for himself, just like Cliff did.
